How to Spring Clean Your Social Media Accounts

Spring cleaning is an effective way to freshen up and unload as we (hopefully) bid farewell to winter. But it can also be exhausting and gross and allergy-inducing. So, instead (or in addition to) dusting off our dressers and scrubbing behind our toilets, this year we're focusing our energy on something in need of a serious deep clean: our social media accounts.

Over the course of a lifetime, the average person will spend approximately five years flipping between their social channels. That’s a lot of memes, irate status updates, and heavy-on-the-highlighter selfies to skim through. This spring, run a virtual Lysol wipe over your digital persona with few simple unfollows, deletes, hides, or blocks (if necessary).

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Below, our handy guide for spring cleaning your social media.

Instagram

The highly visual platform is one of the easier social outlets to clean out. If you’re an active user, you probably hold a respectable amount of followers and likely follow even more than that (unless you’re so obsessed with your ratio that you can’t bear the thought of following even one more person than follows you). So, it’s also probably true that you follow a lot of people that you don’t really want to or can’t remember why you did in the first place. It’s weighing you down! Get rid of that flexible yogi who gives you a false sense of inadequacy. Pick one smoothie bowl account to follow and kick the rest to the curb. It's liberating!

Twitter

Twitter is a wonderful place for pared down thoughts, information, and jokes (seriously, comedians thrive in 140 characters or less). It's a great place to get world news, celebrity updates, and unexpected memes. So, follow away, but maybe avoid getting into any series Twitter spats.

Facebook

Something about Facebook feels a bit more personal. You’ve likely had this account the longest and have the most connections here. Plus, the profile pictures combined with the full first and last names, makes each person feel a bit more real than they do on Instagram. Facebook is the dirty laundry hamper of social media platforms. And that can mean it’s also the most volatile and most in need of a good mopping. Here’s where to begin:

The birthday notification tool

Every day you receive a notification with a list of your “friends” celebrating birthdays. Instead, look at is as a list of people you hardly talk to and, in some cases, don’t even recognize. Wish those you know and love an HBD and delete the rest.

Delete offensive people who post offensive statuses

Facebook is a breeding ground for unsolicited and usually unsubstantiated opinions. These free-flowing thoughts are usually derogatory in nature and overflowing with likes from people who never left your hometown. Feel free to delete anyone who causes you to roll your eyes or say “um, what” aloud more than twice a week.

Edit down your profile photos

If the images in your defaults album date back more than three to five years, you may consider deleting them. I know you looked good in your Halloween costume sophomore year of college, but save it to your private computer server, delete, and move on. Also, consider deleting any questionable images that maybe shouldn’t have ever been posted in the first place. Simply follow the trail of red solo cups to find them.